Fear

"Don't be afraid of failure, be afraid of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter."

I have always had trouble with the command to "fear" God. I never understood why God would want us to fear him, if he is good. But then I started thinking about how there were times I would have disobeyed my parents if I had not feared the consequences. I was scared to death of what would happen if I disobeyed them sometimes. I don't think God wants us to walk around scared out of our minds of him, but if we fear the reactions of people more than we fear the reaction of our God, we will not be serving him at all. Lambda's theme verse is Galatians 1:10 "Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." and I've come to a new appreciation of that verse. Our goal should be to please him, not to please the people around us. I'm confessing that I struggle with this a lot. I can't stand conflict, and I can't stand it when people don't like me so I do everything I can to gain their approval. This got Saul in trouble in 1 Samuel too, "Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD's command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded." It has gotten me into trouble too. So as of today I resolve to try a lot harder to please God and not people.